Gardening
Create a Garden Anywhere with Straw Bale Gardening
The straw bale gardening technique begins with the conditioning process which is done to start the inside of the straw bale composting, so it can support plant growth.
Photo credit: photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com
Add productive garden space and raise your planting bed with straw bale gardening. This technique allows you to create a raised bed garden on the patio, lawn, or poor compacted soil. Straw bale gardening has been around for centuries, but thanks to Joel Karsten's book Straw Bale Gardens it has gained new popularity.
All you need are a few straw bales, fertilizer, a bit of compost and time to condition, plant and water your garden.
Purchase straw bales made from alfalfa, wheat, oats, rye or other cereal that have less weed seeds than hay. Start a few weeks before you plan to start planting.
Place bales in their permanent location with the cut sides up and twine parallel to the ground. When you start the condition process, they become very heavy and hard to move. Once the bales are in place, you are ready to start the conditioning process. This is done to start the inside of the straw bales composting, so they will support plant growth.
Day one spread fertilizer over the tip of the bale. Use one half cup of a complete garden fertilizer or three cups of an organic fertilizer, like Milorganite. The organic fertilizers feed the microorganisms that help decompose the straw into a nutrient rich planting medium. Now thoroughly moisten the bale with water.
Continue to thoroughly soak the bale every day. On days three and five you will also add more fertilizer at the same rate used on day one.
Days seven through nine use half the rate used on day one. This would be one quarter cup of a complete garden fertilizer or one and a half cups of an organic fertilizer. And once again thoroughly water the bale.
On day ten you will add one cup of 10-10-10 or three cups of an organic fertilizer rich in phosphorous and potassium. This completes the conditioning process.
Bales treated with a complete fertilizer should be ready to plant. You will likely need to wait a few more days when using an organic fertilizer. The inside of the bale should be the temperature of warm bath water or cooler. If it is hotter than this, wait for the bale to cool a bit before planting.
Use a trowel to pry open a hole in the bale. Place the transplant in the hole and cover the roots with potting mix or compost.
Create a planting bed for seeds by covering the bale with a one- to two-inch-thick layer of planting mix. Follow the planting directions on the back of the seed packet.
Regular watering is critical for success with this method. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation make this an easier task. You can also use gallon milk jugs with holes in the bottom or inverted 2-liter soda bottles placed near the base of each plant to provide water where it is needed.
Give your straw bale garden a nutrient boost about once a month or as needed throughout the growing season.
You are on your way to growing a productive straw bale garden to enjoy throughout the season.
Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, including Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses "How to Grow Anything" DVD series and the Melinda's Garden Moment TV & radio segments. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.
Antiques
Baseball Antique and Auction News
It may seem hard to believe but the Beatles made their first American appearance on the Ed Sullivan show over 60 years ago, on February 9. 1961. Rock and roll's origins go back further, even prior to Bill Haley and the Comet's release of Rock around the Clock's in 1954. Rock and roll was influenced by R & B performers of the 1940s and 1950s.
In a 1950s interview Fats Domino said, "Rock & roll is nothing but rhythm & blues," according to a Rolling Stone article. Which is the first rock and roll song is the subject of debate. Mental Floss Magazine's website lists 5 songs that might be considered the first rock and roll song:
1. "That's All right Mama" by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1946)
2. 'Good Rockin' Tonight" by Wynonie Harris (1948)
3. "Rock this Joint" by Jimmy Preston and his Prestonians (1949)
4. "Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Ls Jordan & the Tympany Five (1949)
5. "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats (1951)
Of these songs, Rocket 88 is considered by most to be the first rock and roll record. Ike Turner wrote the record, that was recorded at Sam Phillips' Sun Records studio in Memphis. According to Mental Floss magazine, "the guitarist's amplifier had a torn speaker, and producer Sam Phillips (who a few years later, would discover Elvis) jerry-rigged it, stuffing some packing paper in the speaker cone. The unexpected result was a fuzzy sound that defined the song's raw vibe, and became a blueprint for the guitar tone of everyone from Chuck Berry to the Rolling Stones." Later during the 1950s, Rock grew and other acts such as Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Chuck Berry, and Fats Domino became popular. In the 1960s Berry Gordon's Motown Record Company produced a string of hits by multiple artists. The Beatles, the Animals, and the Rolling Stones were some of the bands that came to the U.S. as part of the British Invasion during the 60s. The Vietnam War influenced many American performing artists during the 1960s, like Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and the Doors. The Eagles and Southern rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers were some of the most popular performers during the 1970s. Alternative musical acts such as the Ramones, Blondie, and the Talking Heads started to gain attention and fans. The 1980s and 1990s saw a wide range of styles from Van Halen and ZZ Top to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Pretenders.
There are a variety of items from throughout Rock's history that are popular with collectors. If you happen to have something exceptional like a Ringo Starr drum kit or Kurt Cobain played guitar, it could sell for millions. More common things like records and posters can still be valuable though. The First U.K. pressing of Led Zeppelin's III album sold for over $3,300 in 2011. A rare Beatles poster for a 1966 Toronto Maple Leafs Garden performance sold for $50,000 in 2019. Even a guitar pick can be valuable. An Eddie Van Halen Ed Leffler guitar pick recently sold for $1000 online after striking a chord with bidders.
Our next multi-estate online auction will begin soon and end in June. Our sports and non-sports cards auction will also be running online soon. More auctions are being planned. See our website for details on upcoming events: www.centralmassauctions.com
Contact us at: Wayne Tuiskula Auctioneer/Appraiser Central Mass Auctions for Antique Auctions, Estate Sales and Appraisal Services www.centralmassauctions.com (508-612- 6111) info@centralmassauctions.com